SANTA ANA, Calif. -- Fire officials in Southern California prepared the area for the possibility of further wildfires as strong Santa Ana winds were predicted to resume Friday.

Fire departments placed teams in areas thought to be vulnerable to fires ahead of the expected resumption of strong winds Friday afternoon, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The responders gave particular focus to populated areas that haven't been hit by large fires in recent years, including Topanga Canyon, Simi Valley, parts of Santa Clarita, the Lake Arrowhead and Big Bear areas and portions of northern San Diego.

Officials said they are implementing lessons learned by the brush fires that devastated the region last week. More than 30 air tankers and military helicopters sent to the area by federal and state agencies during last week's fires are being kept at the ready to combat new blazes, the Times said.

"We're not letting anybody go that we already got. We have a considerable force thanks to the rest of the country helping us now," Kate Kramer, spokeswoman for the the Southern California Operations Center, told the newspaper. "Nobody's ready to send everybody home and rest easy on it."